Injuries take toll on Eagles and Dockers line-ups

Geelong regained six stars from injury to play Melbourne on Saturday, but did not solve their AFL selection headaches, as they lost Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel and dropped ruckman Mark Blake.

Gary Ablett, Matthew Scarlett, Darren Milburn, Andrew Mackie, Travis Varcoe and Cameron Ling all returned to the side, but Bartel was forced out by the bruised hip he suffered when he crashed into a goalpost during the loss to the Brisbane Lions.

Blake's poor form cost him, and despite coach Mark Thompson strongly supporting Blake after the round-14 defeat to St Kilda, Geelong were prepared to take on Melbourne with Shane Mumford as their sole specialist ruckman, although the Demons will also field only one ruck, Mark Jamar.

Mumford's rise from rookie this season, the Cats' preference in naming Trent West as an emergency and Brad Ottens' pending return from a knee injury means Blake could face a battle to regain his spot before the finals.

But football manager Neil Balme stressed there was nothing sinister behind his axing.

"Someone had to make way, and the match committee wanted to have a look at a few others," Balme said.

"Some sides run with only one ruckman, so it's not an underlying statement on his role. He's still a very important player for us."

Collingwood and Hawthorn also had rucking matters on their minds ahead of Saturday night's game at the MCG.

A knee injury to the Pies' Josh Fraser prompted a recall for Cameron Wood, while the Hawks will be without Robert Campbell, along with defender Rick Ladson, both because of swollen knees.

Campbell has played much of 2009 as a backman, but the Hawks recalled Brent Renouf to help out Simon Taylor, who will ruck against Wood, who has Leigh Brown as back-up.

Port Adelaide lost patience with experienced pair Peter Burgoyne and Josh Carr following the embarrassing loss to Melbourne, and dropped them from the side to play West Coast at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

Burgoyne, who sits second on Port's games table (238), has struggled throughout the season, while Carr's axing left him perched on 199 career games.

West Coast lost ruckman Dean Cox to a groin injury, but named No.2 draft pick Nic Naitanui on an expanded bench.

The Western Bulldogs and Essendon named unchanged sides for Friday night's blockbuster at Etihad Stadium, where speed will be on show in the battle between the third and eighth-placed sides.

The Bombers kept the same side that beat Sydney last Saturday, while the Bulldogs kept faith with the side that lost by one point to Collingwood last Friday night.

Adelaide lost veteran midfielder Tyson Edwards to a hamstring injury for Sunday's twilight clash with ladder-leading St Kilda, but are leaning towards replacing him with high-flying forward Brett Burton, after a successful knee reconstruction.

Crows coach Neil Craig said Burton, whose last AFL game was in round 15 last year, had impressed in his two-week stint in the SANFL.

"The thing I like that he's been able to do the past two weeks is play pretty much 90 per cent SANFL footy, it hasn't been 50 per cent, 70 per cent, he's played nearly the full game both weeks," Craig said.

The Saints named an expanded squad which included ruckman Steven King, who has served his four-game suspension for his off-the-ball shirtfront on North Melbourne's Sam Power in round 11.

Experienced utility Heath Scotland won a recall for Carlton to play Sydney on Saturday after a two-week stint in the VFL.

But teammate Nick Stevens, who was also dropped after the heavy loss to Essendon, was named only as an emergency.

Utility Jared Brennan returned from suspension for the Lions, who take on Fremantle at Subiaco on Saturday night.